Rolling mill



1 1944. E. T. PETERSON Aug.

ROLLING MILL Filed July 21, 1942 PatentedAug. 1, 1944 some mm. Edward T. Peterson, Reading, Pa. Application July 21, 1942, SerialNo. 451,751

This successive'increase in roll speed prevents I the distortion of the billet between adjacent rolls 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to rolling mills and has for lts'principal object a novel arrangement and association of apparatus particularly suitable for producing rods of various sizes.

, Another object of the invention is to so arrange the apparatus that floor space is conserved in comparison with the output or varied capacity of the mill.

An added object ofv the invention is-to arrange a battery of reels or coilers upon which metallic rods may be wound in relation to two sets of rolls in such a manner that the rods may be directed toward the reels or coilers upon being emitted from either set of rolls. The features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by considering the succeeding description of an exemplified form of the invention and by referring to the accompanying drawing wherein there is disclosed in a single plan view. a diagrammatic or schematic representation of a roll ing mill embodying the invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein like reference characters designate like parts, the numeral I is employed'to indicate generally, a rolling mill having at one extremity thereof a heating furnace 2 wherein billets or any desired metallic elements (not shown) are preheated,

preparatory to their being subjected to succeeding operations to be hereinafter more fully described. The billets are fed into the furnace from the loading skids 3 and advanced at predeter- .mined intervals longitudinally of and through the furnace by a suitable plunger 4 until they come into alignment with an exit port or door 5 through which they are moved by means of a billet ejector 6. For this particular type of furnace which may be advantageously employed, reference is hereby made to my copending application, Serial No. 432,337, which was filed on February 25, 1942.

Positioned adjacent the door or port 5 is a set 1 of pinch rolls 1 arranged to intercept a billet as it emerges from the furnace toadvance it alon a predetermined path. In alignment with the pinch rolls is a series or plurality of banks of roughing rolls U which work the billet as it leaves the pinch rolls to reduce its cross sectional area. As the billet is elongated, due to the reduction in the cross sectional area of the metal at each pass of the various rolls, the circumferential or surface speed of the progressive or successive rolls is increased to compensate for the increased length of the metal and to facilitate a free passage of the billet through the battery of continuous rolls forming the roughing operation.

as well as avoids feeding or forcing the billets through successive banks of rolls at lesser or greater speed thanthe circumferential speed of the rolls. In the path of the metal or billet thus far shaped, which in reality has lost its identity as a billet in the strict sense of the word as it leaves a series of roughing rolls, is a flying shear 8 arranged to sever the metal or material emitted from the immediately adjacent roughing rolls into suitable predetermined lengths which are controlled, as will be understood, by the length desired of the finished rods. Continuing along in the same general direction or in longitudinal alignmentv with the roughing rolls and flying sheen-the metal, after passing the flying shear is intercepted by, or passed through, primary finishing rolls III which are also continuous and uninterrupted and may be of any number required to accomplish the further reduction or conformation of the metal.

Immediately adjacent the primary finishing rolls or conveniently or suitably spaced from the primary finishing rolls l0, depending upon the material and size thereof being processed, are a series of material returning elements or. reversing mechanism II in staggered relation and disposed transversely of the mill from the continuous or longitudinal aligned roughing rolls and -primary finishing rolls. These returning elements or reversing mechanism are primarily intended to change the course of the material being processed and send it through interrupted secondary or intermediate finishing rolls II. The

, latter mentioned'rolls are geared at successively increasing speed also because upon being passed through these rolls, the metal is further elongated by reason of the cross sectional area thereof being reduced. Upon being emitted from the last of the secondary finishing rolls, the metal has been reduced to a particular rod of desired configuration or cross sectional conformation which is of a commercial design and it may be requested to manufacture or fabricate the metal to rods of this shape. Such being the case, the rods are, after passing the last set of secondary finishing rolls, directed transversely of the mill as indicated at [2a to a location adjacent the battery of secondary finishing rolls where they are intercepted by rod reels or coilers II and wound thereabout in any approved manner preparatory to storage or shipment. The reels are arranged on asupporting rack II and it will be observed that, as exemplary. three reels are disposed upon the rack in such a manner that in the event of the use of a finishing rolling mill where three rods are emitted therefrom they may be wound upon the three aligned reels or coilers ll. Upon the winding of a reel, the wire or coil is placed upon a coil conveyor i5 which carries the coil to a station l6 occupied by a. rotatable table or star wheel which removes 'the coils from the conveyor. The coils are theneither bundled for shipment or removed for storage.

It may, however, be desirable to reduce the rods to a still lesser cross sectional area after they have passed through the secondary finishing rolls and, if such be the case, rather than direct the rods toward the series of reels i3, they are permitted to temporarily by-pass the reels or coilers and move longitudinally of the mill beyond the reels to be engaged by an additional reversing or returning element l1 whereby the rods are redirected back through the mill and allowed to pass through a series of uninterrupted final finishing rolls l8 which are progressively or successively rotated at increased surface or peripheral speeds to accommodate the elongation of material. After passing the final finishing rolls, the thus fabricated rod is directed laterally'as indicated at l3a and wound upon the reels or coilers l3 preparatory to being sent along the conveyor as previously described.

Since, however, a rod or rods emitted from the final finishing rolls ill will travel at a much greater rate of speed than the rods emitted from the intermediate finishing rolls, asecond battery or group of reels or coilers i9 is disposed,

adjacent the reels I3. The guide means 13a is so arranged and constructed that they may be selectively chosen to direct rods'toward either the coilers or reels 13 or iii. More specifically, in the case of a finishing mill where three rods are emitted therefrom one rod may be directed to one reel l3 while the other two rods are directed tery of coilers IS. The arrangement lends itself I to the employment of a combination of any three vacant reels which permits the continued windintermediate finish rolls, or by being further processed by the final finishing rolls and then directed to the reels. Not only is there a conservation of floor space in the mill proper, but the particularly disclosed arrangement of apparatus eliminates the necessity of providing separate coilers for the coarse or heavy rods and permits the elimination thereof so that a set of coilers will serve both the secondary and/or the finishing rolls. This alternate or selective use of a set of coilers not only saves fioor space as mentioned above, but in addition materially re duces both the initial cost and upkeep.

It will be understood that various changes and alterations may be made to the particularly disclosed and described arrangement without departing from within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a rolling mill, the combination of a billet heating furnace having a set of pinch rolls in alignment with an exit port thereof, a series of continuous roughing rolls in alignment with said pinch rolls, primary finishing rolls adapted to receive material being rolled after it has passed through said roughing rolls, interrupted secondary finishing rolls disposed transversely of the flow of material as it emerges from the primary finishing rolls and adapted to be fed material being rolled by reversing mechanism, continuous final finishing rolls spaced from said a secondary finishing rolls, and a plurality or bating or coiling of the rods as a set of three loaded coilers are being removedr It will be noted that the particular arrangement lends itself to the formation of several sizes of rods by either being wound upon the reels or coilers after they emerge fromthe secondary or tery of reel means disposed between said secondary and final finishing rolls and selectively arranged to receive material being rolled from either of the last-named rolls.

2. In a rolling mill, the combination of a billet heating furnace having a set of pinch rolls in alignment with an exit port thereof, a series of continuous roughing rolls in alignment with said pinch rolls, primary finishing rolls adapted to receive material being rolled directly after it has passed through the roughing roll, interrupted secondary finishingrolls disposed transversely of the flow of material as it emerges from the primary finishing rolls and adapted to be fed material being rolled by reversing mechanism, continuous final finishing rolls spaced from said secondary finishing roll, reversing mechanism for directing material being emitted from the secondary finishing rolls to said final finishing rolls, and a series of reels disposed between said secondary and final finishing rolls and adapted to receive material being rolled from either of the last-named rolls, 7 'EDWARD T. PETERSON. 

